Tofu Peanut Stir-Fry

"This is absolutely the best way to eat tofu, especially for first timers. The tofu has a slightly crunchy exterior while the inside is nice and soft. I used to make my stir-fry with chicken or beef, but my husband won't have it any other way than tofu now! And my 2 year old loves it! It is a delicious, easy, quick, and inexpensive meal. Serve with Asian noodles or with steamed rice. Enjoy!"

Directions

Heat the oil in a large skillet or wok over medium heat, and cook the vegetables until tender. Mix in the ginger, and season with salt and pepper. Remove vegetables from skillet, and set aside.

Place the eggs in a bowl. In a separate bowl, mix the cornstarch, salt, and pepper. Dip tofu cubes first in the egg, then the cornstarch mixture to coat.

Heat the remaining oil in the skillet or wok over medium heat, and cook the coated tofu 5 minutes, or until golden brown. Stir in the peanut sauce and peanuts. Continue to cook and stir until sauce has thickened and tofu is well-coated. Serve with the vegetables.

Most Helpful Positive Review

Apr 24, 2007

My wife loves when I cook this for her. I made a few changes to make it a little more interesting though. First, I use The Best Thai Peanut Sauce recipe I found on allrecipes. Instead of frozen stir-fry veggies I use fresh red bell pepper, a yellow pepper, fresh snow peas and a can of sliced water chestnuts. I also use a light flour instead of the cornstarch. Before serving I also add a little extra sauce as my wife likes it that way.
Personally, I really enjoy making this dish!

Most Helpful Critical Review

We loved this and declared it "restaurant good." We used fresh veggies (snow peas, mushrooms, onion, red pepper, green onions). I did not batter the tofu, just soaked it in soy sauce and sauteed it. I made my own peanut sauce from this recipe: 3/4 cup light coconut milk, 1 tsp. red curry, 1/4 cup smooth peanut butter, 2 Tbs. brown or raw sugar, 1 Tbs. lemon juice, 1/4 tsp. salt. It was a little sweet, so I recommend less sugar and adding some pepper flakes or paprika. Making your own peanut sauce ensures the sauce is vegetarian, which many store-bought ones are not.

Excellent tofu!! (To make sure the tofu didn't fall apart in the wok, I placed the tofu block under a cookie sheet with a coffee can on top to weight it down. I let it sit for probably 45 minutes. That squeezed out all the excess water.) The veggies were a little on the plain side because they're stir-fried with no sauce, so I added some soy sauce to taste at serving time. I will definitely keep this recipe for the future!

I really enjoyed this dish.
A few tips:
(1) Use FIRM to EXTRA FIRM TOFU (a response to those complaining about it "falling apart"); I used MEDIUM: that's all I had.
(2) I took some frozen green beans, thawed them, cut onions, added celery, salt and FRESH ginger. Great vegetable dish.
(3) My minor complaint: too much oil, so I will probably use 1/4 C oil next time.
(4) If you have a Trader Joe's in your area, i would strongly suggest using their Peanut Sauce. Fabulous! I only have about 1 TBSP left over, but it was great. I now know to not use too much sauce next I make this dish.
Good luck and thanks for reading.

This is a great recipe! I used fresh veggies: Broccoli, red pepper, green pepper, red onion, bamboo shoots, celery, carrot and bean sprouts. Buy extra firm tofu and cut it into 1/4 to 1/2 inch squares. If you drain the tofu it shouldn't crumble. By cutting it smaller, you get more peanut taste instead of tofu. I also poured the rest of the peanut sauce, from the jar, over the dish when I was done. I might suggest pouring some peanut sauce over the veggies too and heating through if you really like peanut sauce like we do. This makes a great left over for lunch. I added soy sauce to the rice I served it on and it was great.

I do not hesitate in giving this recipe five stars. My son loves cooked carrots, tofu & peanut butter--so to throw all those flavors together into one recipe turned out to be a real HIT with my preschooler. That means we were able to get peas, broccoli & water chestnuts into him unawares with the fabulous coating of peanut sauce. My husband upped the hot sauce on his serving tableside, my son did not consider his own as-is serving too spicy, & this is a wheat-free recipe (for me), so it won all all fronts! We loved the textures with the fried tofu over rice vermicelli and the crunch of crushed peanuts. NOTE--there is a lot of peanut in here, so if you have even the slightest sensitivity, beware. 2nd note--the time to make this is underestimated. It took lots of prep time--namely making the peanut sauce (I used a recipe from a Stir Fry book, which tasted delicious, but required some food processing). A new favorite!

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

**Nutrient information is not available for all ingredients. Amount is based on available nutrient data.

(-)Information is not currently available for this nutrient. If you are following a medically restrictive diet, please consult your doctor or registered dietitian before preparing this recipe for personal consumption.